5 Critical Questions To Be Answered at I&T’s 2012 Executive Summit

Insurance & Technology offers a sneak peek into some of the insights -- from big data to innovation -- that will be revealed at this year’s Executive Summit.

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5. With the ongoing shift to buy from build, does this enable more innovation in terms of products, channels, etc., or does it somehow impede innovation? Do carriers have unrealistic expectations from their vendor partners when it comes to innovation?

Insurers seek innovation as a core competency as market pressure, interest rates and regulation continue to reshape the industry. This is a difficult transition for an insular industry where common wisdom and a very conservative response to risk have impeded implementation of innovative ideas. Buying technology can boost innovation if purchased from vendors with cross-line business experience that can cross pollinate ideas. Insurance-only vendors are valuable in providing deep expertise in certain areas, they tend to reflect back insurers’ own traditional thinking.

Vendors can provide insight and capability in using BPM, cloud, social media, mobility and CX technology to improve insurance business processes and models, but insurers need to use the capabilities to support new products/markets/distribution models to truly innovate. Being mobile-enabled is not innovative, how you change your business using that capability is.

At the end of the day, vendors can only provide insight and opportunity to innovate. Insurers must except a heightened level of risk to received greater rewards tied to innovative business models.